With over 360 million Americans and counting producing on average about 4 pounds of waste a day, it is clear that our recycling systems need to be expanded to accept a wider range of materials, and fast. Worse yet, even commonly recyclable packaging formats such as PET and HDPE plastic bottles are only recycled at an estimated (and paltry) 25%.

Chip in for Change

So I challenged my team at TerraCycle with a simple, but monumental question. Can we grow the recycling rate of chip bags to that of municipally recycled plastic bottles? It took 40 years to get to the 25% recycling rate of plastic bottles, but is it possible for a small private company to grow recycling rates to the same level in less than 4 years?For the challenge, TerraCycle launched a new program called “Chip in for Change,” with the ambitious goal of getting a local township here in NJ up to 30% recycling of chip bags within 4 months. This program was launched on July 11, 2012 in Hamilton, New Jersey and will run through October. With success, Hamilton will serve as a pilot for nationwide scale-up opportunities.To start this program, “Chip in for Change” collection boxes have been placed over 200 different locations throughout the township, in an attempt to get residents to recycle at least ten percent of the chip bags they consume. However, if everyone “chips in”, I believe we together can reach a thirty percent recycling rate of chip bags.AnneCN/CC BY 2.0A growing effort to promote resource conservation, known as “extended producer responsibility,” or EPR, makes the manufacturer of a product responsible for the entire lifecycle of the product and its packaging, including financing the take-back, recycling, or final disposal of the product. The goal of EPR is for companies to design products that are easily reused and/or recycled at the end of a products lifespan.By the end of 2010, EPR laws were enacted in 33 US states for a total of 72 laws, in varying degree, enforcing producer responsibility. Packaging taxes – the coercive arm of EPR efforts – are far more common outside the US, with well established packaging taxes in Canada, Brasil, the UK and all EU countries to name just a few.TerraCycle makes EPR possible by eliminating the idea of waste. Major corporations are becoming more likely to finance the recycling of their previously non-recyclable products and packaging, whether in preparation for looming EPR laws or to quell rising shareholder and consumer demands is irrelevant. Importantly, it is the consumers that are voluntarily engaging in transformative change.TerraCycle is hoping that our Chip in for Change pilot in Hamilton Township, NJ will prove that private enterprise can bring forth higher recycling rates faster than any new laws or taxes. Ideally, with the citizens of Hamilton township, we can demonstrate the importance of and value in EPR as citizens seek to close the loop.